Letter: Beware consequences of abolishing tenure

Tenure: To grant permanent position status to an employee after a period of temporary employment. Most positions have a testing period to see if an employee is a good fit. It appears for teaching positions the designation temporary should be permanent.

If you look at the history of teaching, the tenure rule was adopted to prevent positions being filled by political appointment. After an election, the political party in control in a city, town or village could appoint candidates for all positions not protected by civil service or other contractual obligations.

The political spoil system was in play for many governmental units. It was “who you know, not what you know” as the rule. If you do away with the tenure system, beware of the principle of unintended consequences.